for the love of Carl....and of friendship!

 



I just watched a news story this morning, about an 86 year old woman who resides in a nursing home in the small town of Alexandria, Minnesota. She was never married, never had any children, can't walk due to health reasons and has resigned herself to just sitting in her wheelchair for the rest of her life.

My lower lip started to quiver.

In another part of this same small town is a gal who has cerebral palsy. She also needed a companion, and so became the mom to a 70 pound Saint Bernard puppy. He goes with her for walks in her motorized scooter to this nursing home to visit patients. His name is Carl.

Carl is a gentle, lovable oaf of a dog, as most Saint Bernards can be. Once at the nursing home, Carl seeks out a room and once he is there, puts his head into the lap of this 86 year old gal...who thrives on his companionship. Indeed, she says that now she aspires to be able to get up and walk again. She is already becoming strong enough to use a walker.

Imagine that...a small miracle brought to us by a dog.

We all know that "dog" is really "God" spelled backwards, right? He couldn't be everywhere at once and so sent us His most wonderful self through a sweet lovable four-legged companion...in this case, a dog named Carl.

and then I began to cry.

I cried for the fact that this gal is all alone...in a nursing home. Nobody to visit her. Yet her spirit is high. I cried also for the miracle of a dog named Carl, who makes her days brighter and gives her the motivation to want to better herself. I cried also for the fact that she is all alone...and the holidays are here. Who else visits her, other than this dog and his owner, who is so unselfish about taking him out to meet with folks who would other wise have nothing better to do? I cried because....this is the "one" that we know about. How many more people are languishing behind the doors of a nursing home, lost in their thoughts and memories?

This Christmas, do a favor for those who are in need of companionship. Go visit a nursing home. If you have relatives there, go visit them. If you don't have relatives there, go anyway! Sit with someone to just see them smile! They need you more than you know.

Who knows....it may well be you someday, in that same chair...waiting for a kind soul...or a dog named Carl, to break the monotony of the day!
What would Jesus do?
Exactly!